[RogueIsland]

There are so many threads on so many aspects of this case that I thought this very concise summary of many of the germane issues would be a helpful reference card. I didn't find this particular compendium posted yet. Correct or embellish as you well.

[Notforprophet]

Thanks for posting this recap. This is a huge story.

BTTT

NFP

[VadeRetro]

Well authenticated documents from the same office over the same period do not match the CBS documents and obviously WERE typed with a typewriter.

[theDentist]

Well, I appreciate the effort. Now I understand the various arguments. If only Dan Rather would read it....

[AmericanVictory]

Very good, thanks for the compilation.

[need_a_screen_name]

Don't forget:

Vertical line spacing does not match a typewritten document.

And from a fellow Freeper whose name escapes me:

[A]nother aspect of the type on [the August 18, 1973 memo] suggests, perhaps proves, forgery. 1. The type in the document is KERNED. Kerning is the typsetter's art of spacing various letters in such a manner that they are 'grouped' for better readability. Word processors do this automatically. NO TYPEWRITER CAN PHYSICALLY DO THIS.

To explain: the letter 'O' is curved on the outside. A letter such as 'T' has indented space under its cross bar. On a typewriter if one types an 'O' next to a 'T' then both letters remain separated by their physical space. When you type the same letters on a computer next to each other the are automatically 'kerned' or 'grouped' so that their individual spaces actually overlap. e. g., TO. As one can readily see the curvature of the 'O' nestles neatly under the cross bar of the 'T'. Two good kerning examples in the alleged memo are the word 'my' in the second line where 'm' and 'y' are neatly kerned and also the word 'not' in the fourth line where the 'o' and 't' overlap empty space. A typewriter doesn't 'know' what particular letter is next to another and can't make those types of aesthetic adjustments.

2. The kerning and proportional spacing in each of the lines of type track EXACTLY with 12 point Times Roman font on a six inch margin (left justified). Inother words, the sentences break just as they would on a computer and not as they would on a typewriter. Since the type on the memo is both proportionally spaced and kerned the lines of type break at certain instances (i.e., the last word in each line of the first paragraph are - 1. running, 2. regarding, 3. rating, 4. is, 5. either). If the memo was created on a typewriter the line breaks would be at different words (e. g., the word 'running' is at the absolute outside edge of the sentence and would probably not be on the first line).

3. The sentences have a wide variance in their AMOUNT of kerning and proportional spacing. Notice how the first line of the first paragraph seems squished together and little hard to read but the last line of the first paragraph has wider more open spacing. Even the characters themselves are squished in the first line (as a computer does automatically) and more spread out on the last line where there is more room.

There's no way a typewriter could 'set' the type in this memo and even a good typesetter using a Linotype machine of the era would have to spend hours getting this effect.

[counterpunch]

3. The text of the memos appear to use letter kerning, a physical impossibility for any typewriter at the time. UPDATE: After manually recreating the 18 Aug 73 memo in both kerned and unkerned forms, I have concluded that the memo was not kerned. The font itself has a few internal kernings, which led to a mistaken impression that the document had been kerned.

Microsoft Word has auto-kerning as default. You can customize the kerning settings, but not doing so does not mean it is not kerned.

[Travis McGee]

CBS: Not Sinking!

Capt. Rather On Bridge!

'Rats Deserting Ship!

[SolitaryMan]

I believe the standard font is Courier 12 for official DOD correspondence, not Time Roman.

[Happygal]

RogueIsland: Thank you so much for this.

I've read so much about this in the last 36 hours, keeping it all on track is difficult.

I'm going to temporarily bookmark this. I'm sure new evidence will emerge.

NFP: How the hell are ye babe? Hope married life is treating you, and your eminently better half wonderfully! Miss you guys! ;-)

[rocklobster11]

3. The text of the memos appear to use letter kerning, a physical impossibility for any typewriter at the time. UPDATE: After manually recreating the 18 Aug 73 memo in both kerned and unkerned forms, I have concluded that the memo was not kerned. The font itself has a few internal kernings, which led to a mistaken impression that the document had been kerned

Regarding kerning, here is what I found:

The top part was from the August 1 memo, and the bottom from the August 18 memo. The August 18 memo appears to be kerned, but the Microsoft Word overlay that matches almost exactly did not have kerning specified, so perhaps it is just artifacts from all the copying